THREE SWITCHES & LIGHT BULBS
Suppose that you are standing in a hallway next to three light switches, which are all off. There is another room down the hallway, where there are three incandescent light bulbs – each light bulb is operated by one of the switches in the hallway. Because the light bulbs are in another room, you cannot see them from the hallway where you are standing.
How would you figure out which switch operates which light bulb, if you can only go in the room with the light bulbs one time, and only one time?
Though this problem does not include equations or calculations, it involves something all mathematicians need in order to be successful... the ability to think outside of the box, as well as the drive to not give up! This logic puzzle is near and dear to my heart because it is the first problem I worked on with my students in my ninth grade algebra student teaching placement. The best part was watching students get excited about the prospect of finding the right answer, and working together diligently to find it. Many creative solutions were thrown around, and after two full class periods, a student finally crafted the correct solution. I believe starting the year off with this puzzle on the first day of school made students excited about what was to come.
Math is problem solving because just as in life, when we are faced with a problem, we must consider all of the tools we have that can help us solve it. For some instances, this may just be taping into our critical thinking skills, but in others, we can pull out mnemonic devices or formulas from deep in our minds that lead us in the right direction. In math and in life, we follow our gut and our instincts when faced with challenges, and when we fail to solve a problem correctly, we continue to try again with a new method until we get it right.
Math is problem solving because just as in life, when we are faced with a problem, we must consider all of the tools we have that can help us solve it. For some instances, this may just be taping into our critical thinking skills, but in others, we can pull out mnemonic devices or formulas from deep in our minds that lead us in the right direction. In math and in life, we follow our gut and our instincts when faced with challenges, and when we fail to solve a problem correctly, we continue to try again with a new method until we get it right.